Friday, December 16, 2016

Rockhampton cathedral restored after cyclone damage

The heritage-listed St Paul's
Cathedral in central Queensland has undergone massive repair works after
being lashed by Cyclone Marcia almost two years ago.

Cyclone Marcia, a category five storm, hit the city of the
Rockhampton and the cathedral roof was almost torn off, which could have
triggered a building collapse.

"It came through and lifted up most of this roof, so there was substantial roof damage," Fr Lindsay Howie said.

"A man could have crawled through the space that it was lifted up, and came crashing down."It cost more than $2 million to restore parts of the church, whose foundation stone was laid in 1897.

The bill to repair a large stained glass window that was close to shattering reached $200,000 alone.

The project has been funded by insurance money and by the local
parish. "St Paul's Cathedral is a unique example of gothic
architecture," Fr Howie said.

"You don't have to go across the world to see it, it's here in our
own city and it's something that needs to be preserved because they will
not be building the likes of this anywhere again.It's a very pretty cathedral — it's not a huge cathedral, but it's a beautiful cathedral It's got lovely acoustics."